a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spool assembly for use in storing and handling a wire or a cable, which is preferably but not necessarily a pintle.
b) Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the paper making industry, it is of common practice to use fabric belts that are made of sections connected to each other to form an endless loop. Such belts carry the wet fibrous sheets that are prepared from the processed pulp. It is also of common practice to connect the adjacent ends of the belt sections by means of seams made by passing a cable known in the trade as a pintle through a tubular passage formed by intermeshed loops of fabric yarns projecting at the ends of the adjacent sections when the same are interfitted and held together. Usually, the pintle consists of a mono-or multi-filament yarn whose leading end is attached to a stiff guiding wire made of metal, which acts as a needle to facilitate insertion of the yarn into the passage formed by the loops.
Further information regarding the use of pintles to connect fabric belt sections, can be found to the preambles of U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,212 to ASTEN GROUP, INC. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,618 to ALBANY INTERNATIONAL CORP.
Of course, it is necessary that the pintle be stored and made available in such a manner as to make its use and installation as fast and easy as possible, especially in the case of replacement of used or damaged sections of the belt of a paper making machine, which must be made in a very fast manner on the premises.
Spool assemblies for pintles have already been devised to meet the above mentioned requirement. In this connection, reference can be made again to the above mentioned patents, which are both directed to such assemblies. Reference can also be made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,861 in the name of LIPPERT PINTLEPIN MFG. INC. which discloses a spool assembly comprising one or two cylindrical spools in which pintles can be wound. One or two cylindrical spool-receiving members are provided. Each of them has a cylindrical peripheral wall, a flange preferably in the form of a ring projecting radially inwardly from one of the edges of the peripheral wall to hold one of the spools, a plurality of hooks integral to and projecting from the other edge of the peripheral wall at given intervals, and an outlet provided in the peripheral wall to allow the pintle wound in the groove of the spool to be pulled out. The spool assembly disclosed in this patent also comprises a flat, preferably ring-shaped circular cover having an external diameter that can be engaged by the hooks and held tight by these hooks against the other edge of the spool receiving member, to form therewith a casing in which each spool is freely mounted. A stopper is devised to be snapped onto the casing formed by each spool receiving member and the corresponding cover, in order to rigidly hold any portion of the pintle projecting outwardly from the casing through the opening and thus to prevent the pintle from winding back into the corresponding spool-receiving member when such is not wanted.
Even if the structural components of the spool assembly disclosed in this U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,861 are easy to assemble and use, it has now been found a simpler and more efficient way to design and assemble together the structural components of a spool assembly. It has also been found a better and more efficient way of controlling the exit of the pintle when it is pulled out.